Twisting Dreams
by wearegliding5683
Summary: What happens when Makoto Kashino and Ichigo Amano travel to London to open a new branch of Marie's Garden? What problems will they face? Will they be able to survive life in a foreign land, or will their cookie crumble? (REWRITE)
1. Familiar

Hello and welcome to my new-old story? I was deciding on what I wanted to do with Twisting Dreams. I started writing it almost three years ago, and a lot has changed since then. I thought about just deleting it and not working on it ever again. I thought about leaving it up and letting anyone who wanted to read what was written do so, but not adding more to it. I also thought about attempting to simply add more chapters. What it came down to was the fact that I know I'm not the same writer that I was three years ago. Therefore, there were pretty much two options. The first was deleting it and moving on. The second was deleting and starting over. I decided to start over with this story. I do love this fandom, and I think it gets less love than it should at times. I have to admit, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm getting back into the groove of these characters or what. If nothing else, then after I graduate from college, hopefully I'll be able to go back and watch the anime or read the manga and that will give me a little boost with this story.

That being said, I do have to mention that I'm a senior in college. Therefore, I'm not really reading over these chapters before I post them. There will be grammar and spelling mistakes, but I hope to generally keep those to a minimum. Sorry if that bothers you, it's all I can do at the moment. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the story as a whole. Reviews are always appreciated!

All rights go to the creators and owners of Yumeiro Patissiere.

* * *

"Will you stop that?" Makoto Kashino grumbled under his breath, shifting from foot to foot. "You're making a scene."

Before him stood Ichigo Amano with her nose high in the air. She sniffed twice in one direction and then twice in another. From the moment they'd left their apartment that morning, she said she was on the trail of something. She wouldn't tell him what, but she could tell they were getting close.

"Do you want to find this or not?" she asked, beginning to trail off in one direction. She was certain that she was picking up a particular, familiar scent in the air. It was the first time she'd noticed it since they'd arrived in London, but it gave her a certain warm feeling that reminded her of home all the way back in Japan.

A groan echoed from Makoto's throat as he covered his face with his hand, "I said we could look it up online. We don't need to walk around the streets of London searching for some scent. Besides, people are staring."

"I didn't know you were so sensitive," Ichigo shoot him a mischievous look. She spent more time than she probably should have teasing him. But she never understood the point of living without a little fun in the day –fun and sweets.

"It's not that I'm-" he started, but was cut off when Ichigo raised her hand.

She sniffed once more before grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street. She could feel his hesitation as she dragged him behind her. Though, she couldn't tell if he was worried about being forced down a foreign street or because she was holding his hand. They'd officially begun dating before leaving Japan a week ago –if telling Satsuki, Sennosuke, Caramel, and Café meant they were official. Makoto said he wasn't embarrassed by the fact, but he'd insisted that they didn't need to tell people outside of their close friends.

They ran three blocks down the street until Ichigo suddenly halted midway down the third. Turning towards the gigantic glass window, she leaned her face down to see the sweets on display.

"This is it!" she announced, rather pleased with her nose.

"So what was it you were smelling?" Makoto asked, glancing at the various pastries inside.

It was clear that professionals ran the bakery. There were rows of identical sweets lined up, begging for people passing by to stop and buy them. Makoto had, had no doubt where they would end up after their misadventure. Ichigo's nose always landed them at bakeries or restaurants. While he did not want to promote her decisions to pull them down random streets to find food, his stomach was beginning to rumble.

"Let's go in!" Ichigo said, unable to contain her excitement.

"Amano," Makoto started, but realized it was no use. She was already slipping in through the front door before he could attempt to stop her from rushing in. The thought of her attempting to buy the entire bakery passed through his mind, and without another thought he slipped in behind her.

As expected, he found her at the front counter staring at an even large array of baked goods that were shown off in the window. Reaching for his wallet, he wondered how much longer he could afford to eat out before his parents would cut him off. Henri Lucas had set it all up; telling them that they would have a certain amount of money each month for food, and their apartment was completely covered by the school. Their families supplied extra spending money, and, while his parents were still not pleased about his career decisions, they gave in and got him a debt card. Unfortunately, they'd eaten out at least once every day since they arrived in London.

"Amano, remember, we have to stop eating out so much. You're going to run out of money," he knew that she heard him, but she showed no sign of acknowledgement. "Amano."

Springing back up, she wagged her pointer finger in his face. "You said that we could call each other by our first names now. It's Ichigo!"

When they decided to start dating, he'd promised her that they would be on a first name basis, but he was having a difficult time breaking old habits. Saying her first name still brought butterflies to his stomach and blood to his cheeks. Which was why, he was glad she instantly went back to drool over the pastries.

"Makoto, look at these," she pointed down to a row of treats. From the sounds in her voice, he could tell she was positive that these were the cause of her scent tracking. Since starting at St. Marie Academy, she'd learned one of her better talents was her sense of smell. Since then, she'd worked on honing in on her abilities. She wasn't quite sure if there was any difference from before, but she liked to believe so.

She made room, as Makoto leaned down to look at what she was pointing at. From the outside, they didn't look like anything special, just typical croissants. It was the sign sitting next to them that intrigued him.

"Red bean croissants," he read aloud. "Red bean?"

It was not a complete surprise to see pastry chefs using Asian based ingredients in their baked goods, but he hadn't expected to find them in a bakery down the backstreets of London.

"Oh, hello," a woman said, a bit surprised to see two young adults standing in her bakery.

Ichigo and Makoto stood up once more, returning the greeting to the woman behind the counter.

"Welcome to my bakery, Le Gâteau. How may I help you?" a smile brightened her face as she waited to hear their requests.

There was something about her hair, nicely formed and blonde, that made the two of them glance at each other. It was as though they recognized her from somewhere, even though they'd only just met.

"Two red bean croissants and teas, please," Makoto ordered before Ichigo could get a say in the matter. If he let her order, they'd end up with one of each of the baked goods, and no money left in their pockets.

"Please, take a seat. They will be brought out to you," the woman said, before disappearing behind the door and into the kitchen.

"She looks familiar, doesn't she?" Ichigo asked, picking out a seat close to the front window of the shop.

As they sat down, she was finally able to take in the open front of the store. It reminded her of their shop back in Marie's Garden. The floors were a rich, dark oak with cream-colored walls. There were about ten wooden tables with chairs situated around them. It was a quaint, warm place –exactly as Ichigo had hoped for.

"Can we come out now?" the voice came from the hat sat atop her head. Vanilla lifted the front of it, peeking out to see Makoto in front of her.

"Yes, you can come out now. Thank you for staying in there so long," Ichigo said, as she watched the spirit fly down to the table. Chocolat joined her moments later from under Makoto's hat. "It's a good thing it's winter, or we wouldn't have had hats to wear."

While the spirits couldn't be seen by anyone without a spirit themselves, they'd all agreed that it would be safest for Vanilla and Chocolat to remain hidden until they had sat down somewhere and weren't roaming the streets.

"I thought you said we were going to stop eating out so much yesterday," Chocolat said in a matter-of-fact tone.

It was true. Ichigo had promised that she'd stop forcing them into different shops and restaurants. The only problem was, she couldn't possibly say no when her nose caught a scent. Besides, they were in a foreign country; it was only natural to be interested in the food of a different culture.

"It's fine," Makoto said, letting his spirit know that he wasn't bothered. He could tell that their ventures out were making Ichigo truly happy, and, if that was the case, he could suffer through some more pocket money. He, however, added one little rule to the matter, "But you're cooking breakfast tomorrow."

Before Ichigo could even think to protest, the swing of a door and footsteps drew their attention towards a girl about their age. Her blonde hair matched that of the woman who took their order, hair that still seemed to spark recognition in the two Japanese students.

"Two orders of red bean croissants and tea," the girl announced as she brought the food to the table. She was about to place the plates down, when she noticed the two spirits seated towards the center. "You two have sweets spirits?"

Ichigo's eyes widened, surprised to see someone that could see Vanilla and Chocolat. Since arriving in London, they'd gone to at least six bakeries, and yet no one had been able to see the spirits.

"Yes," she finally got out, "this is my partner Vanilla, and his partner Chocolat. I'm Ichigo, by the way."

"Ichigo?" the girl sounded confused, as though she couldn't figure out the way to pronounce the name, but quickly revealed why. "You wouldn't by chance be Ichigo Amano and Makoto Kashino, would you?"

Makoto felt his eyebrow rise as he internally questioned how the girl could possibly know whom they were. After all, they'd only been in the country for a short amount of time, and they had yet to even work on their new shop. How could someone know them?

Yet, Ichigo wasn't going to question much or even feel uncertain in how she might know their names. She only answered, "Yes, we are."

"I thought you might be. I saw the final round of the Grand Prix three years ago. You look a little different, but I thought I recognized you."

"That's not all," a voice called from behind her. A spirit flew to her shoulder; a boy with brown-red hair brought their attention to him. He leaned into the girl's ear and whispered something.

"I know that," she dismissed the spirit. "Don't mind him, he usually thinks he knows everything. I'm Lettice Finch, and this is my partner Azuki."

"Maybe it's a men thing?" Ichigo joked, avoiding Makoto's glare in her direction.

"Lettice?" Vanilla said, thinking hard on why that sounded uncommon yet so familiar.

A thought rushed to Chocolat, as she floated towards her own partner's shoulder. She whispered her into his ear, before sitting down on his shoulder.

"You're Lettice Finch that attends the London branch of St. Marie Academy, aren't you?" Makoto asked, taking note of what Chocolat had just reminded him.

"One in the same."

She placed the plates and saucers down on the table. Her smile emanated through the room, clearly someone used to working in customer service.

"I can't wait to work you in Marie's Garden," Lettice said, backing away from the table before bowing low. She'd heard from her uncle that it was the proper way to greet people in Japan, though she still felt strange doing it.

Almost falling out of her chair, Ichigo snapped her fingers and forced herself back up. "You're Lettice Finch! The one who is going to be working with us in Marie's Garden!"

Without fail, Makoto rested his hand on his face; embarrassed by the amount of time it took for Ichigo to make the connection. He only dropped his hand down, when he heard the giggling coming from the girl serving them. She seemed to find a great amusement out of the two of them.

"You're both too funny," she could barely get a breath in between her spurts of laughter.

It was now Azuki's turn to cover his face with embarrassment. But it didn't last long, as he floated down in front of his partner. "Please enjoy the sweets," he said, giving a small bow himself. He then turned around and pointed towards the kitchen, "Let's go."

Left alone, their conversation returned to its regular tone. While it was common to see the two bickering, they'd learned how to handle and even compromise with each other, at least sometimes. Even Vanilla and Chocolat were learning how to get over their disagreements, though they did occasionally still end in a glaring match or bake-off.

"Well at least Azuki seems to have manners," Chocolat said, taking a sip out of one of the teacups.

"Azuki," Makoto said, as though he was working through a complex math equation in his head. "I guess that is the reason for the red bean croissants."

"I'm going to try it," Ichigo didn't waste her time, picking up the French pastry and taking a large bite from one end. Her eyes remained close, something that Makoto had grown more used to since their first year at St. Marie Academy. He still generally ate with his eyes open, but he understood her reasoning for not.

When she did come back to the present, her eyes widened and a smile stretched across her face. "It's amazing! Try it, Makoto," she pushed.

Much in the same manner that saying her name felt strange to him, hearing her call him by his first name always made him double take. Then again, after going to New York and now in London, it was the natural thing to do.

Regardless, he did as she commanded, taking a bite of the pastry and finding the sweet bean taste oddly satisfying. It reminded him of Sennosuke and his family's business –a pleasant memory, especially in the middle of a foreign land.

The two dished out a small amount for their sweet spirits as they drank their tea. It felt surreal, and yet so natural. As though, they hadn't left their small shop in the Japanese Marie's Garden in the hands of Lemon and Mint and rushed off to London. That this exchange could be happening at Salon de Marie despite knowing that it wasn't true. Makoto had a feeling it would only grow more daunting as they began the actual work of the new Marie's Garden, but he was up for it.

As they finished their afternoon tea, Lettice stuck her head back out from the kitchen. "All done?" she asked, as she stepped out to the main dining area to take their dishes back. "Was everything to your liking?"

"It was delicious!" Ichigo announced, raising her arms up to show that she was finished and perhaps ready for a nap.

"We should be going home," Makoto said, rising from his seat. He turned to Lettice, extending his hand. "We will meet again tomorrow, but at Marie's Garden."

The blonde, English girl nodded her head, barely able to contain her excitement. For a moment, it looked as though she was going to attempt to give her future teammates a hug, but she thought the better of it in the last second.

Instead, she bowed once more, "See you tomorrow!"

The bell sounded as the two left the bakery, with waves and even a bundle of day old pastries in their hands. With their spirits back under their hats, it looked almost natural as they walked down the street, blending in with the crowd surrounding them. A feeling of quaintness and relaxation came over the two of them, knowing that they were headed exactly where they needed to be going.


	2. Changes

Welcome to chapter two of Twisting Dreams! Things have been rather crazy around here, so I haven't had that much time to write a second chapter. Well, that and I wanted to figure out generally where I wanted to take the story before I got too far in. The point is, I'm planning out ideas for Twisting Dreams, so I hope you will continue to read it and enjoy.

There are two things I wanted to mention. While Makoto and Ichigo are Japanese, I'm going to drop the honorifics in this story –mostly. I decided to do this since they are in England, and are attempting to assimilate to the culture. I may use them if they run into certain characters later one, but we'll deal with that later. The other thing is, I'm not going to even attempt to use British slang at all. I don't feel confident in my ability to write British slang. I know that if I attempt it, it will just sound bad and possibly offensive. Just wanted to let you know about those two things if you were wondering about it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter of the story! All reviews are highly appreciated!

* * *

There was almost a comfort to Ichigo's morning routine. It reminded her that regardless of where she was in the world, she was still the same person she was the day before. It kept her grounded. But, she was starting to think that Makoto was not as pleased with her typical regimen.

"Hurry up!" he hollered over his shoulder as he dashed ahead.

Her side was beginning to ache, and her throat was coarse from the lack of hydration. She knew that she had no one to blame but herself, yet she still wished to slow down –if only for a minute. It took extreme effort to force her legs to continue the winding path up hills and along back allies to get to the subway station. She was not allowed to take a break until they had passed through the gates and slipped onto the last subway –that would get them to Marie's Garden in time.

"Oh no, I forgot the pastries from La Gâteau at the apartment!" Ichigo frowned as she thought back to the bag sitting on the kitchen counter. Despite her promise to make breakfast that morning, she'd slept through her alarm and barely had time to get ready before they absolutely had to leave. She'd thought of bringing the leftover pastries from the bakery but forgot them in the rush.

Makoto flung a brown paper sack at her. He seemed bothered but not angry at the trouble she'd caused them that morning.

Snatching the bag out of his hand, Ichigo pulled out a plain croissant and jammed it into her mouth. Since waking up, her stomach had begged her to find food, but she could not give in to its demands.

"You need to stop sleeping through your alarm," Makoto scolded.

"You could have woken me up," Ichigo pointed out, as she finished the rest of the pastry.

"That's not the point. We have even more responsibilities here than we did in Japan. You're going to have to step up to the mark."

"But today is the first day that people are going to be allowed into Marie's Garden."

Makoto reached out, grabbing a metal bar for balance, before the subway slowed down to a screeching stop. People began to file off the car, leaving seats for the two to take.

When they were seated, he continued on with his lecture, "After all of this time, you still don't understand responsibility, do you?"

Since their first time meeting, it was clear that Ichigo had little experience with duty and leadership. She was the type of person who acted on the first thought that popped into her head. It was the reason that Makoto grew equally frustrated with her and felt the need to watch over her.

"What do you think the last member of our group will be like?" Ichigo asked, changing the subject without an answer.

Upon their agreement to move to London, Henri Lucas had given them a package of information on the location the newest addition of Marie's Garden –as well as the shops that would be housed in the garden and their owners. From the paperwork, Ichigo and Makoto knew the names of their teammates: Lettice Finch and Ian Dyer. That was all the insight the papers gave them.

"It doesn't matter what the last member is like," Makoto said. "The only thing that matters is the shop that we create together."

When they first attempted to put together a shop with Lemon Yamagishi and Johnny McBeal, Makoto quickly lost faith in their ability to make a cohesive shop. It was only through dedication and perseverance that they were not only able to create a shop with a regular customer base, but they were also able to beat out a store run by the famous Chateau Seika. Now, he was certain that they would be able to find a common ground to build a new shop's foundation.

"Makoto, are you coming?" Ichigo asked, already by the door.

He was caught up in his thoughts and hadn't noticed the subway pulled up to their stop. Before the doors could shut, he jumped out of his seat and followed behind Ichigo.

The station was bustling with people, and it was difficult to keep sight of each other as they pushed their way through the crowd. Though, the crowd gave Makoto hope that they would be busy once the garden opened its doors.

"Ichigo? Where are you going?" Makoto called ahead to the girl, but she didn't seem to take notice. Every voice was echoing throughout the tunnel. It was too loud to even think, let alone try to shout at someone. Pushing forward, Makoto reached out grabbed Ichigo's hand –pulling her back towards him.

Ichigo gave him a look of confusion, mouthing, "What is it?"

Saving his voice, as it was no use, Makoto simply pointed in the direction that they needed to be heading. Ichigo nodded her head to acknowledge his orders. This time, she turned in the correct direction and did not let go of Makoto's hand. They wove around the station –keeping track of the other.

Walking up the stairs –to the outside air– the two took a deep breath to fill their lungs. They were farther away from the city, as Makoto had expected. From the location of the Japanese branch, he assumed that Henri would have picked out a place farther away from the rush of downtown, but not far enough away that people would not have easy access.

The streets between the station and the garden were lined with trees –their leaves beginning to change color before they would topple to the ground. In order to continue their schooling while in England, they waited until the end of summer to transfer. It would be Makoto's final year of secondary, but only Ichigo's second to final.

Back in Japan she had almost no problem remaining in her grade level –even without Makoto there– as all of her friends were in her class. Unfortunately, it meant that she would be thrown into a class full of strangers in England. She was not looking forward to it.

"I can see it," Ichigo announced, running forward. She pointed towards the high walls built around the garden.

From the outside, it matched the Japanese location in appearance almost completely. The only difference the eye could discern was the diameter of the circular walls. It seemed that through the success of the Japanese garden, Henri was now able to set his sights even higher.

Walking into the gates, the differences became even more apparent. The rows of shops that lined the main street were almost daunting in their size, showing off the hopes of those that would be working inside. Makoto could almost picture the street filled with aspiring chefs and bakers. It was overwhelming merely standing in the center of the empty garden. And yet, he could feel a burning sensation coursing through his body. The thought of being one step closer to his goal was exhilarating.

"Come on, it's this way," he said, passing Ichigo. He moved in quick strides until he reached the shop at the end of the first row –the corner location that Henri had given them after their success in Japan. He didn't hesitate to open the door, stepping in and forewarning anyone inside, "We're coming in."

Ichigo followed shortly behind Makoto. The building looked similar to all of the shops that lined the row –all a neutral color with wooden trim. Inside, the walls were off-white with little in terms of furniture. It brought her back to the first time she set foot in Marie's Garden –their first ever shop. Before La Rêve Couleur, she had only ever dreamed of creating and running a pâtisserie. Now, it would be her second attempt at doing so.

Despite the plain paste-white walls, it took her a second to notice the small figure floating in the air. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of him, and her mouth fell agape, "A new sweet spirit?"

A hum came from atop her head, as Vanilla forced her way out of the hat. She floated down with her hand to her chin, contemplating something. It took her a minute before she said, "Why does he look familiar?"

All that the four of them, as Chocolat had joined them, could see of the spirit was his vibrant orange hair and the back of his flashy green and pink-red clothing. What was most shocking was the fact that he had not even acknowledged their existence since they arrived.

A ring brought their attention back to the door, where a familiar face was entering the room. The instant Lettice caught sight of the two Japanese students, her face brightened with excitement. In seconds, she was already rambling on, "Good morning! How amazing is the garden? I didn't expect it to be this big. Was the garden in Japan this big? I hope that we can make a great shop together."

The English words swirled around in Ichigo's head –going in one ear and then disappearing out the other. She barely had time to catch the greeting, the rest of the words were lost on her.

"And I was just getting used to French," she said, holding her head so it didn't pop off from the hammering it had taken so far that morning.

In primary school, she'd studied English, but after transferring to St. Marie Academy her focus was on French. Spending two years in France, she thought that she would manage to pick up the language, but she still couldn't manage out a full, proper sentence –at least nothing longer than five or so words. Now, she would have to force her brain to cram another language in. She was not looking forward to it.

"Good morning," Makoto spoke up to answer their new teammate. As expected, he'd spent the handful of months before the move studying the language. He had a full and proper grasp of the language –words came to him with ease.

"Oh," Lettice said, a grin spreading across her face. She was staring past the two, at the sweet spirit. "Mango, I didn't see you there."

Even as Lettice addressed the spirit, he didn't turn to face them. It took Azuki floating over to him to catch his attention.

"Azuki? When did you get here?" a small voice came from the spirit.

"Mango?" Vanilla said. She shot a look towards Chocolat –a grave look.

Before Ichigo could ask her what was wrong, Vanilla grabbed Chocolat's hand and dragged her to the far corner of the room. With the look on their faces, it was clear the matter was of some urgency. But what could it mean?

When Mango was turned –facing Ichigo and Makoto– they got a better impression at him. Contrary to his flashy outfit and hair, he stretched out his arms and yawned. He looked tired despite it still being morning, and the day hadn't even truly started. He gave a small glance at the two foreigners but said nothing.

"Does that mean Ian is here?" Lettice asked, whipping her head around in search of the spirit's partner.

"He left in order to," another yawn, "check out the garden."

"Worry not, I have returned," a young man said, as he pushed open the front door to the shop. A head of curls flopped out atop his head –light brown. He had a lopsided grin on his face as he stepped forward.

Even with a first glance, there was something about him that drew Ichigo in –a confidence that pulled her attention towards him. She had felt it before. It was the same feeling from three years ago. The first time she laid eyes on the sweet princes.

Lettice ran to him, hopping into his arms. She did not attempt to hide her feelings for him. A jealous pang ran through Ichigo's mind, but she pushed it away. After all, she could not imagine Makoto being open about their relationship in public or in front of strangers. If he were, she would have to take him to the doctor out of concern for his wellbeing.

"Ichigo, Makoto, this is Ian Dyer. His partner is Mango," she said pointing to the ever-yawning spirit. "They are the final part of our team."

"Well, if we are all here, we should begin," Makoto said, getting down to the serious business immediately –as expected.

Of the minimal furniture in the room, there was one rather small table with four stools around it. They sat down without much else to say in terms of greetings and introductions. Flipping open a notebook, Makoto began taking notes.

"We should decide what type of a store we want to be. What should we sell here? What environment do we want our customers to get from the shop?" Makoto asked, using past experiences through Mari, Sennosuke, and their own shops to aid him in direction.

The table fell silent as they each contemplated their answer. What kind of shop did they want to create?

It was Lettice who piped in first, "I've always been interested in eastern sweets. We could do a Japanese style shop? Most of the shop owners here are going to be from Europe, we have a unique standing with having two Japanese students here."

"That might be true, but we have trained in a diverse background. You couldn't say our sweets are particularly Japanese," Makoto said.

Ichigo understood what he meant. With the original Team Ichigo, it was always Sennosuke who brought out their Japanese flare. While the rest of them used ingredients from their homeland, she could not say that they were uniquely Japanese in their skills or style. It would not be apparent to a layman, but anyone with a background in the field would be quick to point it out.

Makoto seemed to be holding his tongue, as though there was something more he wished to say, but was keeping it inside. Ichigo nudged him with her foot, giving him a glance to force it out.

"I would like there to be enough room to sell chocolates –particularly bonbon chocolates."

The mention of the candies took Ichigo back to their semi-final round in the Paris Grand Prix. They had made bonbons back then formed on the countries they had traveled around. Ichigo couldn't help but wonder what direction Makoto planned to take these new chocolates.

A huff came from Ian's corner of the table, he had not said a word since they sat down, but as they glanced to him, he spoke up with confidence. "Seems pretty obvious to me. We should look into what is popular around Europe at the moment. Unique sweets are fine and all, but if you can't bring in the customers then you can't last. We need to stand out, but not so far as to push people away with fancy sweets they've never heard of."

Makoto found himself narrowing his eyes with distrust, but the second he realized what he was doing, he turned back to his notebook. He took note of all three suggestions so far. It seemed that they were back at square one with too many ideas filtering through each of their minds. How had they fixed it the first time around?

"What if we do all three?" Ichigo asked, rather nonchalantly. As though, instead of being concerned with the wellbeing of the shop, she was simply imagining eating all of the sweets –how delicious they would all taste. "That's how we did it last time, right? We can give an array of options in hopes to satisfy a greater yield of customers."

She was right. They had managed to gain customers without having to choose one person's ideas over another. Well, except for that rollercoaster that Johnny had pushed.

"We can highlight what is popular around Europe as a means to bring in the customers, but we can infuse popular items with unique flavor and textures. It will be a way to hook new customers while keeping them coming back," Makoto said, snapping his fingers as he wrote it down in his notebook.

"So then, what's popular in Europe right now?" Ichigo turned to the two English members of their team.

Ian leaned forward now, a grin spread across his face as though this was the question he was waiting for them to ask all along. "That depends on the country you are looking at. It's clear, however, that certain sweets are rising generally over Europe more than others. I would say if we had to bring it down to three it would be the churro, torte, and macaroon."

"The churro and macaroon will be good for anyone on the go, since they are easy to carry around," Lettice expanded. "We can add bonbon chocolates to the list and focus on those four items for now."

Makoto scratched down more notes in between all of the ideas. Thoughts were already swarming through their heads as they continued to talk about the matter. Churros infused with red bean –green tea. Tortes made of bitter chocolate and spices. Macaroons with flavor combinations that no one had ever heard of before. The list was endless.

"What about," Mango interrupted them, yawning in between words, "a specialty item?"

"A specialty item?" Ichigo wasn't quite sure what the spirit meant.

"Like a sweet that is only offered once a week?" Makoto asked for confirmation.

Mango shrugged his shoulders, "Something like that."

Makoto didn't understand the spirit. All of the spirits he'd met before had a drive to them –even the three idiots in the spirit kingdom. Mango, however, was unlike the rest. He seemed disinterested with sweets. It was as though he couldn't care less if he were there or somewhere else completely.

"We could feature one each day of the week?" Lettice offered.

"Even if we each made one specialty item, it would leave one day open," Ian pointed out.

"What if we let the spirits create something for the last day?" Ichigo turned to Vanilla –who had finally joined them at the table– before asking, "You're supposed to be producing sweets here as well, right?"

"That's right," Vanilla nodded. "We're here to help our partners, but we are also trying to achieve our own goals here as well."

"Then for now, we should work to develop new twists on the churro, torte, macaroon, and bonbon as well as our own specialty item." Makoto said. "We can take the weekend to come up with ideas and meet back here on Monday –after class."

The four agreed on the deadline before Ian and Lettice slipped out of the shop with their spirits close behind.

"They seem nice," Ichigo said, stretching out her arms. When Makoto said nothing, she looked in his direction. He was staring down at the paper in front of him, but she could tell he was not reading what he had written down. He was lost in his thoughts. "Makoto, what's wrong?"

"Why do you assume something is wrong?" he answered, pulling himself out of the trance.

"You stare into nothingness when you're thinking, and whenever you're that deep in thought it's because something is wrong."

He shook his head, not agreeing with Ichigo's point. But he did address the thoughts running through his head, "Chocolat, you came to our world to train to become a pâtissière, right?"

"Yes," she answered.

"That's why all of the sweet spirits come here, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why does Mango act like he doesn't care about this?"

At that, the two spirits gave each other the same look from earlier that morning. It was a concerned expression, with a secret hidden underneath.

"You tell them," Chocolat demanded.

"Why me?" Vanilla shot back.

"Because I said so."

Vanilla let out a puff, but didn't fight it. Instead, she explained, "We've known about Mango for a long time. We're the same age as him. When we were children, word around the kingdom was that he was some kind of child genius –prodigy. Neither of us met him until we were older, and by then he was the Mango he is now."

"Before he came here to find a partner, we were all in a competition together –on different teams," Chocolat added. "Mango sat back and did next to nothing during the round, but at the very end, he put the finishing touches on the cake. The judges said that it was because of those few additions they chose to vote for his team. He has an eye and tongue for sweets, but has never shown any passion for it."

"It sounds like he does it just because he knows he's good at it," Ichigo threw in her own thoughts.

"Well, that's not all," Vanilla said. "There are other rumors about his family. That he was forced onto the path by a grandfather who never made it into the royal court."

Ichigo couldn't hold back the frown. She could remember the disappointed look on her mother's face when she decided to quit the piano. It didn't look good that the piano teacher's own daughter didn't want to play. Nonetheless, her mother took her wishes into account and did not force her to continue. She couldn't imagine what her life would have been like if her mother had attempted to keep her there.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Makoto sighed. He seemed frustrated with the situation that was being thrust upon them, but he kept his true thoughts to himself. "For now, all we can do is try to make sweets that we can be proud of. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We should go home. Besides, because you skipped out on making breakfast, you have to make dinner now."

"But we don't have any food at the apartment!" Ichigo said, her mind rushing to try and think of a dinner plan.

"We'll stop at the market. We need ingredients for the sweets anyways," he answered, not letting her get out of dinner so easily.


End file.
